Did you enjoy watching us put on this act?

 

The house, burdened by double “You’re already a mature xx,” was bearing a weight no house should have to endure. Xing Ye A had it trap Xing Ye B and brought Xing Ye B and “Xing Shuo” to the large mirror in the dressing room. Xing Ye B told the house not to obey Xing Ye A’s commands and hid all the mirrors indoors.

At the same time, “Xing Shuo” was trying to make the house collapse using the principle of resonance. The house felt enormous pressure and extreme discomfort, not knowing whose orders it should follow.

Fortunately, the double “You’re already a mature xx” endowed it with double wisdom. The clever house ultimately decided to help neither side and instead use that wisdom to focus on dealing with the one who wanted to bring it down.

Thus, “Xing Shuo,” who was using “Knowledge Power,” was refused entry by the house. Just as Xing Ye B stepped inside, “Xing Shuo,” who followed behind him, was kicked out by the tiles inside the house and locked outside the door at the same time.

“Xing Shuo”: “……”

Luckily, Xing Ye B quickly noticed that “Xing Shuo” had been locked outside. He coaxed the house and promised that they would try their best not to damage it during the fight. Only then did the door open, letting the dark-faced “Xing Shuo” back in.

It was the first time “Xing Shuo” had ever been given the cold shoulder by an inanimate object. He said unhappily to Xing Ye B, “What’s wrong with it? It’s under your ‘You’re already a mature xx,’ so why would it still lock me outside?”

“Probably because the other side also used ‘You’re already a mature xx,’” Xing Ye B said. “Identical combat patterns are really a headache.”

Xing Ye’s house was very large. If they did not destroy it, they would need special abilities to find Xing Ye. “Xing Shuo” picked up his phone and used the item-type QR code “X-ray Glasses.” Item-type QR codes caould be used together with delay-type QR codes. After putting on the glasses, “Xing Shuo” scanned the interior of the house and saw Xing Ye standing in front of the large mirror in the dressing room.

“As expected, he’s by the mirror,” “Xing Shuo” said.

“You handle the mirror and Xing Ye,” Xing Ye B said. “I’ll deliver the final blow.”

“Xing Shuo” nodded, and the two brothers went upstairs together.

The moment they entered the dressing room, “Xing Shuo” snapped his fingers, took off his glasses, and rushed into the room. His palm touched the largest mirror in the room, causing the silver coating behind the mirror to peel off.

“Xing Shuo” did not choose to smash the mirror. If it shattered, the large mirror would turn into countless small ones, which might become even more troublesome. The once-and-for-all solution was to remove the silver coating behind the mirror.

“Xing Shuo” was severely near-sighted. After taking off his glasses, he could barely distinguish people from animals, which effectively prevented the mirror from using any visual abilities. He was the most suitable person to destroy the mirror.

While destroying the mirror with “Knowledge Power,” “Xing Shuo” used up “Kuafu Chasing the Sun” without hesitation.

He did not want his elder brother to bear the guilt of killing him. It would be better for him to kill the Xing Ye from the other world himself.

Unexpectedly, “Kuafu Chasing the Sun” failed once again. Xing Ye used “Mirror Reflection” for the third time.

“Mirror Reflection” could be used three times within twenty-four hours. Xing Ye used it the first time to fight “Xing Shuo,” and the remaining two times had already been reserved at the very start of the battle to counter the near-invincible “Kuafu Chasing the Sun.”

“Xing Shuo” reacted extremely quickly. Seeing that “Kuafu Chasing the Sun” had not taken effect, he immediately stepped back and tapped the QR code “Immobilization Technique” on his phone.

As its name suggested, “Immobilization Technique” made a player unable to move. However, this immobility was purely physical and did not affect the use of initial skills. But Xing Ye’s initial skill required drawing with his hands, so “Immobilization Technique” effectively sealed all his abilities. “Immobilization Technique” could only control one player.

Seeing Xing Ye restrained, Xing Ye B, who had been hiding in the corner, rushed into the room and used the surgical knife he had prepared in advance to slash Xing Ye’s throat.

But the instant the blade touched Xing Ye’s neck, Xing Ye B sensed something was wrong—yet it was already too late.

The one controlled by “Immobilization Technique” was not Xing Ye at all, but the “Paper Substitute” drawn by Xing Ye. Xing Ye was hiding inside the wardrobe, yet “Xing Shuo” ignored him as if he were blind.

This was because, at the moment Xing Ye B and “Xing Shuo” entered the room, Lu Mingze had activated the achievement title “Reversal of Fortune”. Under the intelligence-reducing aura of “Reversal of Fortune,” “Xing Shuo” seemed blind—he did not see Xing Ye hiding in the large wardrobe and did not recognize the Paper Substitute as a paper effigy, wasting a delay-type QR code for nothing.

Meanwhile, Xing Ye B also appeared mentally impaired, rushing forward to try to slit the “Paper Substitute’s” throat, only to step on the “Defibrillator” and “Battery” that Xing Ye had thrown out from the wardrobe. After being electrocuted, Xing Ye B collapsed, his entire body charred black, and fell straight into the “The Stage-Cutting Saw of the Magician .”

Amid “Xing Shuo’s” furious roar, the “The Stage-Cutting Saw of the Magician” closed its lid and cut the Xing Ye B inside into several pieces.

Blood flowed out through the gaps of the “The Stage-Cutting Saw of the Magician .” Xing Ye stepped out of the wardrobe, glanced at “Xing Shuo,” whose face was covered in tears, and said coldly, “There’s blood—so it’s not a ‘Paper Substitute.’ I win.”

He walked up to “Xing Shuo” and sighed softly. “I don’t want to hurt you either, but in the end, you are copies created by the system, and I carry the expectations of too many people. I have to win.”

“Being able to see my brother one more time made me very happy.” Xing Ye smiled faintly.

At this moment, a notification sounded from the phone:
“Player x8205 (Mirror) wins. Congratulations on successfully killing your own original body~”

Xing Ye caught a trace of malicious delight in the system’s voice and asked calmly, “What’s going on?”

After the victory notification sounded, the “Xing Shuo” standing before Xing Ye suddenly became quiet. He looked up at Xing Ye and smiled faintly, then gradually disintegrated into small black-and-white cubes. The surrounding environment followed suit, transforming into a space filled entirely with black-and-white cubes—the system space.

A black-and-white Rubik’s Cube appeared before Xing Ye. This time, the side facing him was completely black.

“What do you mean by saying I’m fake?” Xing Ye asked.

The black-and-white Rubik’s Cube replied, “Because you are the copied Xing Ye. The system already hinted at this before—your ID number is x8205 (Mirror). The so-called ‘copy’ you believed in was actually the real Xing Ye whose memories had been tampered with by the system. You are the true fake Xing Ye.”

There was never any such thing as Xing Ye’s points being stolen. Those points were earned by Xing Ye through his own strength. Even if it were Xing Ye himself, he would still have to obtain them through direct confrontation—it would be impossible to take everything from him using nothing more than a monster in a mobile game.

The system created a fake world and a copied Xing Ye, and at the moment Xing Ye entered the final stage, it swapped the memories of the real Xing Ye and the fake one.

“Do you remember the QR code on the final-stage invitation card?” the black-and-white Rubik’s Cube said. “That QR code didn’t only grant access to the final-stage world—it also had another function: memory exchange. When Xing Ye scanned the code and confirmed it, that was equivalent to the player voluntarily agreeing to the memory swap. So the system didn’t violate any rules at all~”

“So that’s how it is…” Xing Ye lowered his eyes and sighed. “So I’m the fake one after all? Then what about Lu Mingze? Why didn’t he recognize that I was fake? His ‘Eye of Truth’ should have been able to tell the difference, shouldn’t it?”

The black-and-white Rubik’s Cube replied, “He couldn’t tell. Because this isn’t just Xing Ye’s final stage—it’s also Lu Mingze’s final stage as an item. This final stage combines both of their final stages. Lu Mingze failed to select the true mirror in his own final stage, so naturally, in this world, he couldn’t distinguish which one was the real Xing Ye.

“Unfortunately, both Xing Ye and Lu Mingze failed the final stage.”

Though it said it was unfortunate, the Rubik’s Cube’s voice was brimming with delight, as if defeating Xing Ye for the first time filled it with joy.

“But I’m still here,” Mirror Xing Ye said, pointing at his chest while holding a small mirror in his hand. “And Lu Mingze is still here too. What will happen to us?”

The black-and-white Rubik’s Cube said, “The system promised that as long as you killed the other Xing Ye, you could leave the final stage. But you are Mirror Xing Ye—you can only exist within the final stage. Once you leave it, you will naturally disappear. As for Lu Mingze, he has failed the final stage once again, so he should return behind his own door. The tenth door on the second floor will always remain open for him.”

“You sound very happy,” Mirror Xing Ye said. “Deceiving and manipulating players—does that really make you so happy? What are you, exactly? Before I die, could you tell me?”

The black-and-white Rubik’s Cube replied, “Didn’t I say it from the very beginning? This is the ‘Challenging Fate Game.’ Players challenge ‘fate,’ so naturally, I am ‘fate’—a ‘fate’ composed of the malice of humans across countless worlds.”

Mirror Xing Ye thought of the starkly different Lin Jingxue and Liu Muqing from the cruise-ship world, thought of the malice experienced in every world, the seemingly perfect and happy surface endings, and the dark true endings hidden beneath them. He said to the black-and-white Rubik’s Cube, “You once said that all the games had truly existed before, just in different parallel worlds. And the cemetery I once entered was an illusory world formed from the collective consciousness of failed players… So in truth, you are a collective consciousness formed from NPCs who were harmed or toyed with by fate across all game worlds, aren’t you?”

“That’s one way to put it,” the black-and-white Rubik’s Cube replied.

Mirror Xing Ye continued, “Then when did you begin to exist? And how long has this system been manipulating players?”

“Ever since humans came into existence, the system has existed as well,” the black-and-white Rubik’s Cube said. “It is composed of human malice and absorbs players in forms humans can understand. In ancient societies, the system could be oracle bone inscriptions, bamboo slips, or parchment; in today’s technologically advanced era, the system is QR codes; and in the future, the system will appear in entirely new forms. I know players always want to defeat the system—but that’s impossible. As long as human malice doesn’t disappear, humans will forever be toyed with by ‘fate.’”

Mirror Xing Ye sighed. “So after I fail, the system will continue operating, manipulating other players. I should have guessed it the moment I saw the ten doors on the second floor—there is no such thing as a victorious final stage. Whether one is a Fate-following player or a Fate-defying player, the task you give in the final stage is always an unsolvable problem.”

“Exactly so~” the black-and-white Rubik’s Cube said. “Humans can never defeat fate. Hehehehe…”

Its malicious laughter echoed throughout the system space. Mirror Xing Ye coughed lightly and said, “Ahem—well, I really did want to let you be happy for a little longer, but the duration is up.”

The Rubik’s Cube’s laughter stopped abruptly. “What duration is up?”

“Lu Mingze’s ability duration,” Mirror Xing Ye said, raising the small mirror in his hand. “Do you remember the QR code he drew after the train world? The one that lets a player hide inside a mirror for five minutes.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the mirror emitted a faint glow. A figure appeared beside Mirror Xing Ye—it was Xing Ye B, who had previously been killed after being tricked by Mirror Xing Ye into the “The Stage-Cutting Saw of the Magician,” and who was also the real Xing Ye whose memories had been swapped.

Standing beside Mirror Xing Ye, Xing Ye sighed at the stunned black-and-white Rubik’s Cube. “We’ve dealt with each other for so long, and yet you still haven’t understood me. That really disappoints me.

“I’ve said it before—my true opponent has always been the system. I will never let the system lead me by the nose. Did you enjoy watching us put on this act?”

 

Translator : DarNan